Community Housing Industry Association Victoria

🎄This time of year can be joyful for many, but incredibly tough for people without stable housing.

A home provides safety. It gives people dignity. And it provides a chance to rest, rebuild and plan for the future.

🏠 That’s why building more community housing is so important.

Run by mission-led non-for-profits, community housing gives people a chance to live life to the fullest in a home they can afford.

👉 Find out more about community housing at https://www.supportcommunityhousing.com/

Recent changes to planning laws will give councils the power to require affordable housing in new developments.

That’s a win for renters who are struggling to find an affordable home.

👉 Find out more –https://chiavic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CHIA-Vic-MAV-welcome-historic-affordable-housing-win-FINAL.pdf

Municipal Association of Victoria

Find out what community housing is, who lives there and who runs it by checking out our new fact sheet.

👉 Get the real facts about community housinghttps://chiavic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/About-community-housing_V1-FINAL.pdf

December marks the start of summer, when many people’s power bills start to rise. It can also be a time of financial strain as we head into the holiday season.

If you support renters who are struggling to cover their utilities, or are having trouble yourself, a number of energy concessions and assistance programs are available.

👉 See our new resourcehttps://chiavic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Get-help-with-energy-bills-resource-for-renters.pdf

Housing is more than just shelter — it’s the foundation that helps people access education, work, health services, and hope for the future.

But too many Victorians don’t have a safe and stable place to call home.

On any given night, more than 30,000 people are homeless and more than 55,000 households are on the social housing waiting list.

This Human Rights Day, we call on government to build 80,000 new social homes over the next decade so everyone can have a safe place to live.

📣 Exciting grant opportunity just opened!! 🎉Registered community housing orgs are invited to apply for round 1 of the Victorian Government’s Energy Efficiency in Social Housing Program (EESHP).

Registered CHOs can apply for up to $18,000 per property to boost the energy efficiency of their homes and improve comfort for renters while also reducing power bills.

To help you put your application together, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action is running an online information session on Monday 15 December from 10:30am-12pm.

Note that the info session is for registered community housing organisations only.

Register your attendance here 👉 c866ce7d-dbf4-46ca-abe2-08c7002baa7d@e8bdd6f7-fc18-4e48-a554-7f547927223b" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/c866ce7d-dbf4-46ca-abe2-08c7002baa7d@e8bdd6f7-fc18-4e48-a554-7f547927223b

More on the grants 👉 https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/grants/energy-efficiency-in-social-housing-program

🎉 Applications are now open for round four of the Community and Social Services Graduate Program.

The 12-month program gives employers access to a pool of motivated, qualified graduates and builds the skills and experience of early-career professionals.

Employers can also nominate an existing employee who has worked in their organisation for less than 12 months.

Through the program, participating organisations will:
👉 Receive $8,000 per graduate to support their professional development
👉 Get support for graduate and supervisor training
👉 Be able to apply for an additional $5,000 to support graduates in rural and regional locations.

Learn more https://www.vic.gov.au/community-and-social-services-graduate-program-information-employers

We were thrilled to attend the launch of DJAARA's new housing strategy in Bendigo last week, and celebrate the organisation’s newly registered housing arm, MAYAM MAYAM.

Mayam Mayam means housing in Dja Dja Wurrung language, and its mission will be to provide affordable, secure and culturally safe housing for Dja Dja Wurrung People (Djaara).

In exciting news, MAYAM MAYAM has already secured funding to build 34 homes in North Bendigo, as part of Homes Victoria’s Big Housing Build.

Congrats DJAARA!

👉 Find out more: https://djadjawurrung.com.au/djaara-commences-housing-program-to-improve-dja-dja-wurrung-wellbeing/

Images:
1. CHIA Vic’s Stephanie Ng with David Allen, DJAARA development manager at the launch
2. At the DJAARA housing strategy launch

Victoria needs more community housing and we’ve got a plan to help get us there.

To find out more about community housing see https://www.supportcommunityhousing.com/